Macaroni-trimming machine



F. l. RUTLEDGE.

MACARONI TRIMMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man 1uLY12.192o.

1 ,406,497. v Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Le; ation/w11 F. l. RUTLEDGE.v

MAcARoNl TRIMMING MAQCHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1ULY12,1920.

Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fl Iik HUTLEDGE.

MACARONI THIMMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12.1920.

Panama Feb. 14, 1922.

mm wm F. l. RUTLEDGE.

MAcARoNl TRIMMING MACHINE.

- APPLICATION FILED JULY 12.1920. 1,406,497.

w. mm ww Lm 1 4 M F H n f m f n m W 7 www UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MACARONI-TRIMMING MACHINE.

Application led July 12,

To @ZZ whom t may concern Be it known that I, FRANK I. RUrLnDGn, aresident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inMacaroni-Trimming Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

The present invention relates to macaronitrimming machines, and moreparticularly to machines for mechanically trimming oil the ends of themacaroni as it is suspended from the sticks or hangers, upon which it isplaced by the workmen when taken from the macaroni press.

In the present factory production of macaroni, the macaroni is expressedthrough a' die having a large number of perforations. The macaroni as itcomes from the press is taken by a workman and thrown over a stick whichis a wooden rod several feet in length. The workman spreads the macaronievenly along this rod, the individual pieces of macaroni hanging fromthe rod like inverted Us. The lower ends of the macaroni are irregularas they hang from the stick. The-factory practice has been for a workmanto take a pair of shears and trim ofi the irregular ends of themacaroni. After the macaroni is trimmed, the green or moist macaroni isplaced in a curingor drying room in which it is hardened preparatory tobeing packed and sold.

T he machine of the present invention is designed to replace the handoperation of trimming the irregular ends of the macaroni as it issuspended from the sticks or hangers.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a macaroni-trimming machine embodyingmy invention Figure 2 is a side elevation g Figure 3 is a plan view;

Figure l is a detail View of the knifecarrying traveler; and

Figures 5, G and 7 are detail diagrammatic views illustrating thereversing switch in its different positions. l

Referring to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the trimmingmachine cornprises a stand, indicated generally by reference numeral 2.The top of the stand has two spaced bars 3, which are adapted to supportthe sticks 4 upon which the macaroni Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 14C, 1922.

1920. Serial No. 895,602.

is suspended. r1`he operator takes one of the empty sticks and placesupon it a batch of macaroni from the macaroni press, sprea ding themacaroni along the stick. The stick filled with macaroni is placed onthe bars 3, at the front of the machine (the right hand end of themachine as viewed in Figure 2), and the sticks are pushed back along themachine as they are trimmed, the sticks moving from right to left asviewed in Figure 2. At the top of the machine is a hopper comprising twoinclined bars 5, into which the operator at the back of the machinedrops the empty sticks which roll forward to the front of the machine,as indicated at 6 in Fi ure 2.

. s shown in Figure 2, the macaroni on the sticks with the irregularends before it is trimmed is placed on the bars 8, at the front of themachine and is moved back into position to have the ends trimmed by acutting knife 7, which is arranged to be moved back and forth across thefront of the machine and longitudinally of the macaroni-suspendingsticks 4. The knife 7 is a power-driven rotary knife carried on atraveling carriage, indicated generally by reference numeral 8, which isfed back and forth across the front of the machine. The carriage 8 isprovided with trucks 9 and 10, which travel on the tracks 11 and 12,which are mountedr on a frame 13 carried by the main stand 2.

The knife 7 is preferably a rotary knife, as shown inthe drawings,having four blades and rotating in an anti-clockwise direction, asviewed in Figure 3. The carriage 8 has a shear member 15, against whichthe knife cuts. The macaroni hanging from the stick above the knife liesagainst the front of the track 12, which properly positions the ends ofthe macaroni in the path of travel of the knife 7 as it moves alongbeneath the stick.

The knife 7 is carried on a shaft 16, 'which is driven by an electrkImotor 17, through a worm gearing 18. The shaft 16 also carries a gear19, which, through an idler 20, drives a sprocket wheel 2l which engagesa chain 22 to move the 'carriage 8 hack and forth. The small idler orbacking roller is mounted on the carriage opposite the sprocket 21 tohold the chain in secure engagement with the sprocket teeth.

The carriage 8 is arranged to start from one side of the machine, forexample, the left-hand side of the machine, as viewed in Figure 1, and'to travel across the frame cutting the ends of the macareni and then toautomatically be reversed and return to 1ts starting position. Theforward or cutting `Inovement of the carriage is preferably initiatedmanually, the operator starting the cutter into operation when a freshstick of macaroni is to be trimmed. the carriage is controlled by anelectric, switch, indicated generally by reference numeral 25. Theelectric switch 25 comprises a switch box or casing 2G, within which isslid'ably mounted an insulating block 27. ln the switch casing Q6 aretwo electric contact terminals 28 `and 2S), which are connected to thefeed or supply circuit.

Carried on the insulating block 27 are three contacts 30 and 3l and 32.which are arranged to be brought against the contacts 28 and 29, andwhich are connected to the motor, so that when the parts are in theposition shown in Figures 3 and 7 the motor will be driven in adirection to drive the cutting knife forwardly in its cutting directionand to feed the carriage 8 from left to right across the front of themachine as viewed in Figure l. Then the block 27 is shifted to theposition shown in Figure 5, the contacts reverse the current through themotor and drive the knife backwardly and feed the carriage 8 from rightto left as viewed in Figure l, back to its starting position. In orderto automatically `operate the switch to stop and to reverse the movementof the carriage 8, stops or buffers 33, 34E and 85 are provided. Theoperation of the switch and stops is as follows:

Assume that the machine is running and the carriage 8 is moving in aforward direction, as indicated by the arrow a in Figure 3. The contacts3l and 32 are against the contacts Q8 and 29, respectively. The carriagewill continue to move until it reaches the stops and 3ft. The stop 33will first engage the end of a rod e0, rigidly secured in the insulatingblock 27 'and projecting from the switch casing 26. The stop will movethe rod back until its end is flush with the outer side ofthe casing 26,thus bringing the switch to its middle posit-ion, as indicated in Figure6, in which the motor circuit is broken. The momentum of the carriagewill continue its movement compressing the spring il of the buffer 33 tocushion the' stepping of the carriage. The end of a second rod 42, alsorigidly secured inthe insulating block, next comes in contact with thebuffer or stop Sel, and the switch is moved to the position shown inFigure 5, in which the contacts 30 and 31 are brought against thecontacts 2S and 29, respectively, and the The. travel of ineens? currentto the motor is reversed, whereupon 'the carriage 8 automatically beginsits backward travel to its starting position. The stop 34 is alsoprovided with a buffer spring 43.

The carriage continues its reverse travel until it reaches the left handside of the machine, as viewed in Figure l, whereupon the other end ofthe rod i0 contacts with the stop 35 and the switch 25 is moved to itsneutral or stopping position shown in Figure 6. The butter spring sliassists in checking the momentum of the carriage. The `trimmer is nowstopped and the machine is in readiness to receive a stick of freshmacaroni to be trimmed. Then a stick of fresh macaroni is pushed inposition to be trimmed, the operator manually moves the switch into itsstarting or forwardly running position by pressing on the end 'of therod 4t2;

While the machine is particularly designed for operation upon themacaroni suspended from the sticks, in common use in macaroni factories,it is obvious that the macaroni might be otherwise suspended and thatvari` ous other modifications and changes may be made within the scopeof the claims. The term macaroni as herein used, is intended as a wordof general description and to include other food products of the samenature, such, for example, as the variety of macaroni known tothe tradeas spa-ghetti.

I claim:

l. A macaroni-trimming machine, co1nprising sticks for supporting themacaroni,4 a stand for holding the sticks upon which the macaroni issuspended, and a powerdriven cutter arranged to travel back and forthlongitudinally of the sticks and trim oil the ends of the macaronisuspended therefrom, substantially as described.

2. A macaroni-trimming machine, comprising a hanger for suspending themacaroni, and a power-operated cutter arranged to travel back and forthbeneath the hanger and trim oliq the ends of the macaroni suspendedtherefrom, substantially as described.

3. A macaroni-trimming machine, comp'rising sticks for supporting themacaroni, a stand for receiving a plurality of such sticks andpermitting the sticks to be moved along the standJ and a power-ope atedcutter arranged to travel beneath the sticks and trim ofi the ends ofthe macaroni suspended therefrom, substantially as described.

`In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. f

FRANK I. RUTLEDGE.

